Unsinkable Ship
by CharlieSwagron
Summary: Some would call it a coincidence. Some would call it luck. But to them? It was fate. Kate and Rick meet on the Ship of Dreams and both of their worlds are turned upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a fic that's more than a one-shot so please tell me if it's any good or not. I really listen to and appreciate any criticism given as long as it's constructive. This is un-betaed so all mistakes are mine. If you have an idea of what you might want to see later on, please tell me. Also, as much as I love Martha and Alexis, I couldn't figure out what characters they would be from Titanic, so as of right now, they won't be in this story. If you guys can think of someone I might've overlooked for those two, then just tell me. Thanks a lot guys ****J**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Titanic, or any of the characters, lines, or plot.**

It was a beautiful day at the port of Southampton. The skies were clear with not a cloud in sight and the sun was shining down brightly. The docks were teeming with activity for that day was a very special, historical day.

Waiting patiently in the water was the RMS _Titanic_, a luxury liner that seemed to radiate importance and majesty. She was a massive ship, nearly 900 feet from bow to stern. A floating palace. Her four smoke stacks stood erect in the center, only adding to the beauty and grandeur of the image.

On the docks, people bustled about. Some were getting their health inspected while some were just there to merely observe this grand occasion. Cars were being loaded into cargo, ladies with their prim and proper poodles and terriers were boarding the ship, men carried bags, purses, suitcases, and many other kinds of luggage. No matter what they were doing, no matter their station or social class, their mood was the same: cheerful, happy, _excited_. There was a certain type of ecstatic energy in the air. Everyone felt it and contributed to it. That is, of course, except for one person.

Several cars drove onto the dock, beeping their horns at anyone foolish enough to not get out of the way. As they all came to a stop, a man sitting next to the driver of the lead car, hopped out of it and opened the door. He offered his hand for the woman inside to grasp and grasp it she did.

Carefully, Katherine Beckett got out of the car and looked up at the ship before her with disdain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother, Johanna Beckett, step out of another of their cars while her fiancée, Joshua Davidson, joined her from inside their shared car. He had a look of awe and amazement on his face that she simply did not understand nor share.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," she stated, turning to face Josh. "It doesn't look any bigger than the _Mauritania._"

"You can be blasé about some things, Kate, but not about _Titanic_," Josh replied excitedly. "It's over 100 feet longer than _Mauritania_ and far more luxurious," he said as Kate turned back around to stare at the ship, still unimpressed.

"You're daughter is far too difficult to impress, Johanna," Josh informed the older woman as she walked over to meet them.

Johanna gave a knowing chuckle and said to no one in particular, "So this is the ship they say is unsinkable." She walked over to where Kate was standing just a few feet away.

Quick to boast about its glory, Josh said, "It is unsinkable. God Himself could not sink this ship."

An officer from the ship was trying to get Josh's attention and when he succeeded, told him, "Sir, you have to check your baggage through the main terminal. It's round that way, sir." The man pointed in a direction, but Josh didn't care. He wasn't a second class passenger who needed to check their own baggage. That's what having manservants and maids were for. And of course, money.

He took out a twenty, handed it to the officer, and told him, "I put my faith in you, good sir. Now, kindly see my man." Josh beckoned to his manservant/bodyguard, Thomas Demming, to come forward.

Demming grabbed the man by his shoulder and led him towards the awaiting cars, saying, "All the trunks from that car there." He pointed to the second car and then the third. "12 from here, and the safe to the parlor suite, rooms B-52, 54, 56." The man nodded and hurried to do as directed.

Whistles were blowing in all around them so Josh pulled out his gold pocket watch and checked it. It was almost time for the ship to be on her way out of port. Walking over to Kate and her mother, he said, "Ladies, we had better hurry."

The three, as well as multiple maids and servants, started off to board the ship. They passed people of all ages and sizes along the way. Many of them were third class passengers, being checked or waiting in line to be checked for health problems that would render them invalid or incapable of taking the _Titanic_ to New York, her destination. Children's dental hygiene was being looked at, men with beards had to have them combed through to look for any signs of lice or fleas.

Johanna was the first to step onto the gangplank and then Josh followed closely by Kate. The former two were strutting up onto the boat like they owned it, but Kate wasn't nearly as confident as them. She hated this trip. She hated the fact that this wonderful, grand ship was taking her to her doom in America. The wedding to her fiancée was to take place not long after their arrival in New York and she couldn't have been any less thrilled.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

He blew out a stream of cigarette smoke and took a look at his cards. Richard Castle was hoping that his gamble was a good one. Otherwise, his best friend, Javier Esposito, was going to be utterly pissed at him.

The two men that Rick and Javi were playing poker with were now speaking in Swedish so neither understood what was being said. Javier decided that he would take advantage of that and turned to Rick to scold him. "Rick, you are loco. You bet everything we have."

Rick took another drag of his cigarette and leaned in towards his friend. "When you got nothing you got nothing to lose," he told him. Javier shook his head in disbelief, but decided not to say anything else. His friend really _was _insane.

Javier put down two cards and Rick gave him two more from the deck. The man sitting across from Rick, Olaf, only wanted one card and so did his buddy, Sven. Richard stared at his cards and then came to a decision. He put down one card and drew from the top of the deck.

Glancing at each of the men at sitting around the table, he noticed that all, including himself, were sweating bullets. They had a right to be doing so, too. Sven, whether from stupidity or from over-confidence, had bet his and Olaf's tickets onto the _Titanic_, which lay floating in the harbor that was only a few minutes away from the pub they were currently at.

"All right," he said at last. "Moment of truth. Somebody's life is about to change." He took the cigarette out of his mouth and faced Esposito. "Javier?"

With a look of disgust on his face, Javi put down his cards and announced, "Nada."

Rick nodded his head in acceptance and asked, "Olaf?" The big man put down his cards without saying a word and Rick declared, "Nothing. Sven?"

Sven showed everyone his cards as Rick said, "Uh-oh. Two pair." He looked at Esposito and said, "I'm sorry, Javi."

Javier looked at Rick and said, "What do you mean 'sorry'?! You asshole, you bet all the money we have-"

Rick interrupted him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, you're not gonna see your mom for a _long _time. 'Cause we're going to America. Full house, boys!" Rick slammed his cards on the table, and let out a whoop of joy. Esposito had grabbed the tickets and was dancing around the table, thanking god in the process. Rick had just started to gather up all their winnings when he felt a hand yank on the front his shirt. Olaf had a fistful of his shirt and was cursing very loudly in what he guessed was Swedish.

Olaf raised up his free hand and made it into a fist. Closing his eyes, Rick waited for the impact, but to his surprise, Olaf swung at his own buddy, Sven. The force of the hit knocked Sven's chair back and caused the big man to fall on his ass.

The other people in the pub as well as Rick and Esposito were laughing while Olaf continued to yell at Sven, who was on the floor and trying to escape his friend's grasp.

Rick turned to Esposito and declared loudly, "I'm going home!" He grabbed his friend in a giant bear hug that Esposito returned.

"I'm going to America!" Javier stated excitedly.

A voice rang out through all the activity currently going on. It was the bartender. "No mate," he said. "_Titanic_ goes to America." He jerked his thumb at the clock on the wall behind his head and added. "In five minutes."

Rick and Esposito stilled and then sprang into action. Rick held open the sack he carried that held all of his belongings while Esposito dumped all of their money and cards into it. They each grabbed their new ticket onto the ship and ran out of the pub and onto the docks.

Running for all they were worth, they wove in and out of the many people who had crowded on the docks to see the _Titanic_ off. Glancing back to check that his friend was still with him, Rick shouted, "We're riding in high style now. We're a couple of regular swells. We're practically goddamn royalty, mi amigo!"

The two kept running and nearly collided with a couple of horses attached to a carriage. "Come on, I thought you were fast!" Rick taunted Esposito as they approached the gangplank.

They sprinted up it as Rick yelled for them to wait when he saw that they gangplank was being removed. "Wait, we're passengers! We're passengers!"

The officer at the door looked at the tickets that Rick offered to him. "Have you been through the inspection sir?" he asked them.

"Of course," Rick said as Esposito nodded. "Anyway, we're Americans we don't have lice. Both of us"

The officer relented and said, "Right. Come aboard."

They jumped the couple feet that separated them from the door and ran through the halls to make their way up onto the deck.

"We're the luckiest sons of bitches in the world, you know that?" Rick told Esposito.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

The ship's horn blared as smoke streamed out of its smoke stacks. Men on the docks unhitched the many mooring lines and threw them into the water. People, both on and off the ship, were frantically waving goodbye and calling out farewells.

Rick and Javier found a place by the ship's railing where they stood and excitedly waved at the crowd gathered at the docks.

Rick dropped his bag right next to his and stood on the lowest bar of the railing. "Goodbye!" he yelled.

Looking at him questioningly, Esposito asked, "You know somebody down there?"

Rick rolled his eyes at him and stated, "Of course not. That's not the point."

Esposito shrugged and decided to humor his friend since he _was _the one who had the winning hand that brought them onto this ship. "Goodbye!" he shouted. "I'm gonna miss you!"

They felt the ship's engine start and the propellers began to spin. A small tug boat was tied to the ship's bow to help move the massive thing out of port. Slowly, but surely the ship sailed past the docks and into open seas. And on April 10, 1912, the _Titanic_ began it's maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

**A/N: So there's the first chapter. What did you guys think? Please let me know as I've never done a multi-chapter fic before.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I want to give a shout out to Ilovetoread09, LadyAilith, and cburton1995 for reviewing to the first chapter. Thank you guys so much, you're advice, suggestions, and questions really helped a lot! I found a person that Martha could be, but now I need someone for Lanie and Alexis. If neither you nor myself can think of anything, then they will most likely not be in this story. I'm going to be taking a few liberties and making Montgomery the captain of the ship and Gates will be who Thomas Andrews would normally. I know, not historically accurate because they're both African American and one's a woman, but I don't really care about that. This chapter is un-betaed so all mistakes again are mine. If you see any big ones, don't hesitate to point them out.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Titanic, or any of the characters, lines or plots.**

Rick and Esposito left the deck soon after the ship departed. They dodged the many other people around, trying to make their way down below to the third class deck where their room was. They walked endlessly through a maze of hallways, until Esposito finally said, "Rick, give it up, you don't know where our room is."

Rick spun in a circle, looking at the many doors in the hall and said weakly, "No, I know where…we're…going." He looked at Esposito with a sheepish smile, but the other man just clenched his jaw and was silent for several long moments.

"All right, what's our room number? I'll find it," Esposito said at last.

"No, no, I'm gonna find this bastard if it's the last thing I do," Rick declared.

His friend wasn't having it though. "Rick, I swear to God. I want to put my bag down and just rest. So tell me. The damn. Room number."

Rick mulled this over for a grand total of two seconds before saying, "Nope," and running down the hall.

Esposito was taken aback by Rick's sudden mad dash, but he quickly recovered and ran after his friend. "That goddamn son of a bitch. I'm gonna freaking kill him," he muttered to himself.

"Get your ass back here!" Esposito yelled to Rick who was several yards ahead of him.

Rick chanced a rapid glance back and smirked at how far away Javier really was. "Catch me if you can, amigo!" He sprinted around a corner and Esposito followed him.

Jumping over luggage on the ground and dodging people in the very small hallway was _not_ how Javier thought he would be spending the minutes after the ship's departure.

Rick checked behind him again only to see that his friend was rapidly closing the distance between them. Hardly a few feet now separated them. He tried running faster, but the bag over his shoulder was heavy and slowed him down even more.

Esposito figured he was close enough to Rick and took a leap of faith. Almost quite literally as he leapt in the air and tackled his taller friend to the ground. They began wrestling for control as several bewildered passengers looked on or hurried off in a different direction.

Esposito had grabbed Rick's hair and forced his head back and up when Rick suddenly stopped fighting and exclaimed, "Hey, look!" Esposito halted his movements, but didn't let go of Rick's hair. "It's 360. That's our room."

Esposito waited for a moment and then let go of Rick's hair. He stood up off the ground, but not before he landed a small kick to the side on his friend.

"Ow, geez." Rick got to his feet and straightened his clothes before saying, "See? I told you I would find our room." Esposito rolled his eyes as Rick turned the doorknob and opened the door.

Inside the room, there were two other men, one sitting on a bed and the other drying his hands with a towel. Both men stared at the two as the entered through the door.

"Hey, how's it going?" Rick asked, ever the friendly one. "I'm Richard Castle, but you can call me Rick." He offered his hand to the first of the men, the one who was drying his hands and the guy took it. Shaking hands with the second man, Rick gestured behind him and said, "This here's Javier Esposito, but you can just call him dickhead."

A pillow smacking him in the back of the head caused Rick to turn around and glare at an innocently looking Esposito. "Really?" he asked.

"What? I didn't do shit," Javier replied.

"Uh-huh." Rick walked over to their bunk beds and realized that Esposito had taken the top one. Punching him lightly in the shoulder, he exclaimed, "And why do you get the top bunk, huh?"

Esposito snickered and said, "Because I'm awesome."

"Yeah, well you're an awesome ass."

"Hey, don't be hatin' just 'cause while you were being all friendly, I was getting first choice."

"I hate you sometimes," Rick grumbled. He put his bag on the bottom bunk and inquired, "Do you wanna go on deck and look around?"

Esposito groaned. "Rick, I just wanna sleep."

"Aww, c'mon. It'll be fun. Plus, you owe me."

At that, Esposito sat up and looked at him. "What the hell do you mean by 'you owe me'?"

Rick had a smug expression on his face as he told his friend, "Well, I _am_ the one who had the winning hand during that poker game so I'm the reason you're actually here, laying in my top bunk."

"First off, this is _my_ top bunk. And secondly," Javier paused as he tried to think of an excuse, but failed. "And secondly…I fucking hate it when you make sense." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and hopped down.

Rick slung an arm around his Latino friend's shoulders and led him out of the room. "Yeah, I know you do."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Josh walked around the suite, inspecting nearly every inch of it for an imperfection or fault. He was getting rather annoyed at the servant who was following him and getting in his way. "Would you be needing anything, sir?" he heard the man ask for probably the hundredth time. Shaking his head, he continued looking over the room.

In the background, Josh heard Kate and a maid going through the many hideous paintings she had nearly forced them to bring along. "We need a little color in this room," Kate said in response to a maid's inquiry about setting them out.

Satisfied with his inspection of the room, Josh turned around to see Kate setting down one of the paintings. He would never understand where her obsession and like of the things came from. Just like he would never understand how she could practically stay inside for the better part of a day and bury her nose in a book. She loved to read, something Josh had a great disdain for.

"Oh God, not those finger paintings again," he exclaimed. "They certainly were a waste of money."

"The difference between Josh's taste in art and mine is that I have some," Kate quipped to her maid.

A servant offered him a glass of champagne which he took gratefully as his fiancée kept droning on about how wonderful her paintings were.

"What's the painter's name?" her maid asked.

"Something Picasso," Kate replied.

Josh snorted and strolled over to where she was admiring another painting. " 'Something Picasso'?" he mocked. "He won't amount to anything. He won't, trust me."

Kate gave him a look and said, "Josh, you think that anyone who isn't rich won't amount to anything."

"That's because they usually don't," he replied with a smug grin on his face.

Kate rolled her eyes and practically stormed off into an adjoining room, the painting in her hand.

Josh took a sip of his champagne and told Demming with a chuckle, who was waiting patiently by the sofa, "At least the things were cheap."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

The _Titanic_ was not going straight to New York. A few stops were to be made at various European ports. Cherbourg, in France, was one of them. They arrived sometime in the evening. Some people got off the ship while many others got on.

Kate was getting off the elevator to go to the dining room with her mother when they saw a woman set down a couple suitcases and declare to the bellhops, "Well, I wasn't about to wait all day for you, sonny." She was wearing fancy fur coats and a fur hat. In fact, there was hardly a stitch on her that wasn't either made of fur completely or trimmed in fur.

She passed them on her way to the elevator and gave them a smile and a nod. Kate gave her a genuine smile, though her mother's smile was tight-lipped and forced. Leaning down to her mother's ear, Kate whispered, "Who is she?"

"That's Martha Rodgers," Johanna said, not bothering to whisper like her daughter had done. "She's new money. Her husband struck gold somewhere out West." Then she sniffed and told Kate, "Try not to be associated with her all that much, darling. She has not a clue how a _proper_ lady of our class and standards should act."

Kate glanced back, but Martha had already disappeared. Disappointedly, but dutifully, she said, "Yes, Mother," and let Johanna lead her to their supper.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

The last port the _Titanic_ had to make a stop at was in Ireland. She picked up even more passengers as very few got off. Now, the only thing ahead of her was the Atlantic Ocean.

Captain Roy Montgomery was walking along the upper deck and stood beside his First Officer, Will Sorenson, at the railing overlooking the front half of the ship.

Sorenson was in a relaxed stance, hands clasped behind his back, when he saw his captain come up next to him.

Captain Montgomery put both his hands on the railing and, with a grin on his face, told the younger man, "Take her to sea, Mr. Sorenson. Let's stretch her legs."

"Yes, sir." Sorenson nodded his head and went to do as bid. He walked into the Bridge and told the Sixth Officer, "All ahead full, if you will."

The Sixth Officer said, "Very good, sir." He set the speed control on "full" to let the officer working below deck in the engine room know the order.

In the engine room, the orders were given for "All ahead full," and the men who worked down there sprung into action. Gears were turned faster, in the boiler room, men labored to shovel pounds and pound of coal into the already burning furnaces that helped to move the ship. Gradually, the propellers spun quicker and the _Titanic_ sailed faster.

On the deck, Rick and Javier were running around, acting like excited 6 year old boys.

"C'mon!" Rick urged his friend as he ran towards the front of the bow.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'," Esposito shouted after him.

They jumped onto the lowest bar of the railing that was there and looked down into the water. The wind whipped through Rick's hair and made both of their jackets flap around them.

Suddenly, Rick spied something in the water. He hit Esposito's back lightly and said, "Hey, look!" trying to get his attention.

Esposito looked over to see what had gotten his buddy all excited when he saw a dolphin break through the water right in front of the ship.

Rick pointed and asked, "See it? You see it?"

Esposito said, "Yeah I see it, man. I saw it when you first pointed it out," though he himself was barely containing his glee. Of course he'd seen dolphins before, but this was something different and he was having a blast.

About 5 more dolphins swam up to the first one they'd seen and the two men were only getting more giddy. Esposito, his reservations at containing his excitement forgotten, said, "Look, there's more!"

"Hey look at that one jump!" Rick whooped. Sure enough, the dolphins had started jumping out of the ocean, one by one, as if they were showing off for the two men staring at them from above.

Rick jumped up one more bar on the railing and grabbed onto the cables attached to the bow to keep himself from falling. He spread out his arms and yelled, "I'm the king of the world! Whooooo!"

Esposito looked up at him and shook his head at his friend's goofiness, but couldn't hold back the smile that was overtaking his face. They were on the Ship of Dreams. Them, two poor boys with hardly anything to their names. Why shouldn't they enjoy this?

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Kate hated it when her mother dragged her to luncheons she didn't want to attend. And she hated it that she couldn't argue with her. After all, she _was_ her mother. So here she was, sitting quietly at a table surrounded by people she wasn't too fond of and listening to Mark Fallon, the chairman of White Star Line, drone on and on about the brilliance of the _Titanic_.

"She's the largest moving object made by the hand of man in all of history. Our master shipbuilder, Ms. Gates, here, designed her from the keel plates up," he boasted.

Ms. Gates, though, wanted to be modest and take the attention off herself. "Well, I may have put her together, but the idea was all Mr. Fallon's." She continued by saying, "He envisioned a steamer so grand, so luxurious that its magnificence could never be rivaled."

Mr. Fallon smiled at the praise and nodded his head.

A waiter came over with a glass of tequila and set it before Kate. She thanked the man and reached for the glass despite her mother's disapproving glare.

"Kate," Johanna leaned in. "You know I don't like you drinking that stuff."

Kate raised an eyebrow at her mother and then took a big gulp of the drink in defiance.

Josh, watching the exchange, decided to take matters into his own hands. "She knows," he informed Johanna as he plucked the glass from Kate's grip.

Kate turned to stare at her fiancée, but he was already ordering lunch for them: lamb. God, she _loathed _when he did things like that.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Josh turned to her and asked, "You like lamb, right sweet pea?"

_No, I hate lamb, you pompous ass,_ she thought. Instead, she gave him a tight smile that even a blind man could tell was forced and fake.

Martha, who was sitting across from Josh must have sensed her discomfort and dislike so she thought she would try to help the poor girl out. "You gonna cut her meat for her too, there, Josh?"

Josh shot Martha a look so the woman changed the subject. "So, uh, who was it that thought of the name 'Titanic' anyway?" She smiled at Mr. Fallon and guessed, "Was it you, Mark?"

Happy to keep the spotlight on himself, Mr. Fallon replied, "Yes, it was actually. I wanted to convey sheer size and the size means stability, luxury, and above all, strength."

Kate was paying attention with polite disinterest and was waiting for her chance to take a couple jabs at the egotistical man. So when the opportunity arose, she seized it greedily.

"Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Fallon?" she asked politely. She saw that Mr. Fallon had no idea who she was talking about so she pushed on. "His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you."

Kate saw Martha nod her head approvingly and Ms. Gates snickered while eating her food out of the corner of her eye so she gave an inward smile.

Her mother, on the other hand, was astounded. "What has gotten into you?" she demanded, though she wouldn't get her answer.

"Excuse me," Kate said as she put down her napkin and rose from her seat. On her way outside, she heard Martha calling her a "pistol" and one corner of her mouth rose up to form a crooked smile. Then she heard Josh say that he might have to start minding what she reads from now on and her smile vanished. _He'll start minding what I read when Hell freezes over, _she thought. There was no way he was going to take away her books as well as her freedom.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Rick sat on a bench on the deck, watching as a man held onto a little girl so she wouldn't fall over the railing. The man, whom Rick assumed was the girl's father, was showing her all the different aspects and interests of the ocean.

Rick hoped they wouldn't move just yet because he was busy with drawing the scene. It was such a serene and carefree moment that he figured he would capture it on paper. His brow was furrowed in concentration and his lips were pursed as he shaded in parts of the picture. Behind him he heard Javier and an Irish guy talking about the ship.

"It's a really nice ship," Esposito commented.

"Yeah, it's an Irish ship," the guy said.

"What? No it's not. It was built in England, right?" Esposito asked.

"Nope, 15,000 Irish men built this ship, which makes it an Irish ship," the man retorted as a couple bellhops walked by carrying the leashes of a few dogs. The Irish man shook his head and leaned back against the railing saying with disgust, "Well that's typical. First class dogs come down here to take a shit."

Rick, finished with his drawing, looked up and smiled at the man. "Uh, it lets us know where we rank in the scheme of things."

"Like we could forget," the man said blowing out a stream of smoke from his cigarette. He held out his right hand to Rick and said, "I'm Kevin Ryan."

"Rick Castle." He shook Kevin's hand as did Esposito when it was offered to him.

"Javier Esposito."

Kevin peered at Rick's picture and asked, "Do you make any money with your drawings?"

But Rick wasn't paying any attention to what he was saying as the most gorgeous woman he'd ever lay eyes on stepped out onto the deck above theirs. She walked up to the railing that surrounded that deck and stopped as did Rick's heart.

She was wearing a dress that came down to her ankles, the kind of dress most proper ladies wore. From her waist down, it was white and on her torso, it was a light green color. It had lace sleeves that were covered in a floral pattern. Her hair, light brown in color, was long and wavy. Though the breeze had picked up her hair and was blowing it around, Rick guessed that its length was down around her breasts. She was stunning and the sun's rays behind her made her look ethereal.

She was staring out at the ship that lay before her, when she turned and caught his gaze. His breathing hitched and his jaw dropped slightly. He could distantly hear Kevin saying something to him, but he didn't pay any heed; he was to enraptured by the woman.

Their staring contest was suddenly interrupted when a well-dressed young man came over to the woman and began talking to her. Rick could see that they were arguing and he desperately wanted to go over there and shove the guy aside, but unfortunately, he couldn't. The beautiful woman stormed off and left the man standing awkwardly at the railing.

Javier and Kevin were laughing at him and the former was even snapping his fingers in front of Rick's face, trying to drag him from his thoughts, but to no avail. Who was that mysterious woman? He didn't know, but from the look of it, she was first class, high society. Well, whoever she was, he was going to find out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I sincerely apologize for making you wait so long for this chapter, but my school finals are coming up and I've just been super busy. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed and followed this story; your support really means a lot. If you didn't know, the italicized words are the thoughts of whoever it is that's thinking the words (obviously). I finally found out who Lanie is going to be so a giant burden has now been lifted.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Titanic, or any of the characters, lines, or plot.**

Kate sighed as she stepped onto the deck. _Why must men be so controlling,_ she thought to herself. She halted at the railing that encircled the deck and stared straight ahead, thinking. _Josh is a nice guy most of the time and he really does mean well often enough. I just wish he didn't have to dictate my every move._

She felt someone's gaze on her, so she looked to her left and noticed a man, sitting on a bench with a pad of paper on his lap, staring at her. All thoughts of her fiancée flew out of her head as she locked eyes with the stranger. The man had on tan pants with suspenders attached and a dark brown button-up shirt. She could tell from even this distance away that the first couple buttons near his collar were undone and she saw a hint of a white shirt underneath. His brown hair was cut short on his head and the slight wind was causing it to become a disarray.

Kate didn't have any clue as to who this handsome man was, but from the look of it, he was most definitely a third class passenger, unfortunately. Kate heard her name being called, but she couldn't bring herself to break off the intense staring contest between her and the stranger. It was as if he was staring right through her and gazing upon her soul.

Realizing that Josh was behind her, Kate was forced to turn away and face her fiancée.

"I hope you're very proud of what you just did," Josh said.

"What did I do?" Kate asked.

"What did you do?" Josh echoed incredulously. "You embarrassed me in front of Mr. Fallon! How could you even think that was okay to do?!"

"I guess my tongue just got away from away," Kate said unapologetically. And not meaning it, she added, "I'm sorry," then walked off.

Josh remained where he was for a moment before heaving a big sigh. He ran his fingers through his short hair, glanced at the people on the deck who were pretending to not notice his and Kate's argument, and then went inside after his fiancée.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

It was supper time and Kate was getting dressed with the help of her maid, Lanie. Lanie was a young, African American woman whose fiery attitude and way of speaking caused her to quickly become Kate's best friend. Whenever the two were alone together, all pretenses of maid and mistress were gone, and because of society's rules, the two women have had to keep their friendship tight lipped. Lanie was undressing Kate from the dress she had worn all day while her friend kept going on and on about a mysterious man she had locked eyes with earlier.

"…he was so captivating, Lanie, you should've seen him. The way he looked at me; it was like he could see straight through me and into my soul."

Lanie smirked and said, "Sounds like you've got it bad, girl."

Kate frowned at her friend. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Lanie," Kate said exasperatedly.

The maid shook her head and said, "You've got a crush on him!"

"What?! No, I don't!" the other girl exclaimed.

" 'Lanie I saw this guy today. Oh, he was _so_ handsome. We stared at each other for hours and hours. The way he looked at me, ugh, it was like he could see right into my soul. Oh, you should've seen him, Lanie,'" the woman mocked in an overly high pitched voice. "Kate, I love you, you're my best friend, but seriously? You've been talking non-stop about him ever since you came back to the suite. You, miss, have a big, fat crush on him."

Kate was silent for a moment before she muttered, "Whatever," then let Lanie help her into her dress for the evening.

Just as Lanie finished tightening the dress, Johanna walked into the room and dismissed the maid. Lanie curtsied and hastily left the room, closing the door behind her.

Kate turned around to face her mother. When she met the older woman's eyes, she could tell that her mother was very displeased. Sighing inwardly, Kate waited until Johanna spoke first.

"I can't believe you, Kate!" Johanna said. "Your behavior earlier was absolutely horrendous. You insulted not only Mr. Fallon, but myself and Josh as well! Those type of remarks and comments are completely improper for a woman of your age and stature."

"Yes, Mother," Kate dutifully replied.

"You can't jeopardize this marriage to Josh. We have nothing, Kate. Do you hear me? _Nothing._ When your father-" Johanna cut herself off abruptly and turned away from her daughter. Kate heard her take a deep breath to calm herself before she spun back around.

"You must stop being so childish. Josh is your fiancée and you will marry him when we reach America. I expect you to act accordingly tonight. No inappropriate responses, no snaky remarks. Is that understood?"

Kate nearly rolled her eyes, but reluctantly said again, "Yes, Mother."

Johanna nodded curtly and said, "Very good. Now, let's be on our way."

The two woman walked into the main sitting room where Josh was waiting. He greeted Johanna with a kiss on the hand and Kate with a kiss on the cheek. When his mouth was near her ear, Josh whispered to her, "Behave yourself tonight. I will _not_ have another stunt like the one you pulled earlier." He felt Kate stiffen, but she nodded her assent.

He pulled back and a wide grin covered his face. "Well, now, ladies. Shall we?" he said while leading them out of their suite. He offered both women his arms and they took them gracefully, starting towards the elevator that would take them down to the dining hall.

They found a table to sit at that was partially occupied by a few other people. Her mother and Josh immediately struck up conversation with those sitting next to them, but Kate, trapped in between the two, had nothing to do but stare at her plate. When a waiter filled her champagne glass and scurried over to another table, Kate made a decision. She excused herself from her place between her mother and Josh, not that they took much notice, and hurried out of the large room.

She walked outside onto the deck and bolted for the stern of the ship. She ran as fast as her dress, falling to her ankles and tight as anything, would let her. Passing several others on her mad dash she finally reached the very back of the _Titanic_. The pins that held her hair in place on her head had fallen out and now her long hair was blowing in the wind that the ship was creating. She had a few tears streaming down her face and was panting from her run and slowly approached the stern's white railing. She glanced back to check if anyone else was around to see what she was about to do. Grabbing a hold of the top rail, Kate hauled herself over it and faced the dark, blue ocean.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Rick was laying stretched out on a bench, smoking a cigarette. He was gazing at the stars and wondering about that stunning woman he had seen earlier that day. He took a long drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke thinking, _I wonder if I'll ever see her again. _Suddenly, he heard feet running by him and the sound of a woman crying. He quickly sat up and found the source of the noise. A woman had sprinted past him and was heading for the stern. Rick, curious as to who it was and what had happened, got up off the bench and followed the stranger.

He walked up a small set of deck stairs only to find the woman at the railing of the ship. Except she was on the wrong side of the railing. _Jesus Christ, she's gonna jump!_ he thought. Rick had to do something; he couldn't just let the woman kill herself. So he slowly began taking steps toward her and said, "Don't do it."

The woman, startled, turned around to see who had interrupted her. When he saw her face, Rick thought,_ Oh my God, it's her. What the hell is she thinking?_

"Stay back," the woman warned. "Don't come any closer."

Determined to bring her back over the railing and onto safety, Rick took a few more insistent steps toward her and said, "Come on. Just give me your hand. I'll pull you back over."

He halted his movements when she replied, "No! Stay where you are. I mean it. I'll let go." She glanced back down at the water, but Rick could tell that her confidence in her original plan was starting to waiver. He decided that trying to calm her down and convincing her that this wasn't a good idea was his best solution just then. So that's what he did.

He lifted the forgotten cigarette to his mouth and took a drag before letting the smoke go. The woman had seen and commented, "Smoking's detrimental to your health, you know."

Rick, surprised that she had said anything about his smoking habit, responded with, "Well, so is jumping off the back end of a ship into freezing cold water. But alright, I concede." He made a motion that signaled he was going to simply throw the cigarette overboard and did so.

Taking a big step forward to lean on the railing a few feet away from the woman, he said with finality, "And no, you won't."

The woman looked confused for a second before realization dawned on her face. Then, she looked indignant. "What do you mean no, I won't? Don't presume to tell me what I will and will not do. You don't know me."

"Well, you would've done it already."

"You're distracting me. Go away," she said.

Rick put on his most charming smile and replied, "It's my ruggedly handsome looks that are distracting you, isn't it?"

The woman rolled her eyes and said, "Of course not! Now _go away._"

The smile left Rick's face and he sighed in acceptance. "Alright, I guess that's it, then." Taking off the coat he was wearing he continued, "You let go and I'm gonna have to jump in there after you."

He was unlacing one of his boots and tugging it off when she told him, "Don't be stupid. You'll be killed."

"I'm a good swimmer."

"The fall alone would kill you," the woman retorted.

As he took off his other boot, Rick said, "Yeah, it would hurt, I'm not gonna lie to you. But you know how I said the water was freezing cold a couple minutes ago? Well, chances are it's a little bit colder."

The woman turned to stare out at the ocean as he asked, "You, uh, ever been to Wisconsin?"

Her head whipped back to him. "What?"

"They, uh, have some of the coldest winters around. I lived in a northern part of the state for around a year when I was about 10," he explained. "My mother would take me ice fishing out on a lake sometimes." Rick paused and asked, "You know what ice fishing is, right?"

"Yes, I know what ice fishing is," she snapped.

He put his hands up in a gesture of apology and said, "Sorry, it's just you seem like kind of an indoor girl and some people don't know what that is. Didn't mean to offend you.

"Anyway," he went on, "I fell through some thin ice and I'm tellin' you: water that cold," he nodded to the ocean, "like right down there, it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body. You can't think. You can't breathe. You can't do anything except succumb to the pain."

Rick believed he saw a look of fearfulness flash through the woman's eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it came. He added, "Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in there after you, but like I said, I don't have a choice." He removed the smaller jacket that he had been wearing under the thicker, heavier coat he'd had on not too long ago.

"You're crazy," she declared.

He met her gaze, leaned in closer to her, and said, "That's what everybody says, but with all due respect, miss, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a ship here."

Rick extended his had out to her and coaxed, "Come on. You don't wanna do this. Just let me help you back over."

He saw one hands let go of the railing and hesitantly reach for his. When she grasped it, she slowly turned around and found herself face to face with him. He let out an exaggerated sigh of relief and said, "I'm Rick Castle."

Shaking the hand that she was already clasping, the woman said, "Kate Beckett."

A small smile appeared on Rick's face as he told her, "I'll be sure to remember that."

A corner of Kate's mouth lifted in a half smile and she took a step up to start climbing back over the railing. Her foot touched the next rail and she lost her grip. If Rick hadn't already been holding her hand, Kate would've plummeted to her death.

Rick felt his arm nearly get pulled out of its socket as Kate fell and he grasped her hand. She screamed and he held on tight, making sure to never let his grip weaken or falter.

"Help me! Pull me up!" she shrieked.

Rick pulled her up so that she could grab onto one of the rails to help, but her hand slipped and she fell again.

"Help! Please!"

"Listen! Listen to me!" Rick yelled. Kate locked eyes with him and he said, "I've got you. I _won't_ let go. Now pull yourself up. Come on!" Rick gritted his teeth and pulled upward with all the strength he had. He grunted as she latched onto the railing to help pull herself up. When she reached the top Kate wrapped her arms around him and his locked around her waist as he practically dragged the woman over the railing.

"I got you," he grunted in her ear as her feet cleared the top of the first rail. They tumbled to the deck in tangle of limbs. "You okay?" Rick asked as he sat up from where he had fallen on top of her. But before she could respond, running footsteps caught their attention.

"What's all this?" a man in a ship crew's uniform said aloud.

They saw him survey Rick's tossed aside coats and boots, Kate on the ground, and Rick nearly on top of her. "You stand back and don't move an inch!" the man ordered Rick. He turned back to the other two crew members who had followed him and said, "Fetch the master-at-arms."

Deciding that it would be best to follow whatever orders were given to him just then, Rick stood up and took a step back, jamming his hands into his pants' pockets. _Great,_ he thought, _just great. Save a woman's life, get pegged for a rapist. I must have the worst fucking luck in the world._

Roughly 15 minutes later, the master-at-arms came with three other men in tow, not including the crew member who had sought him out. One man had a glass full of some type of alcohol that Rick guessed was brandy. He went over to Kate, who was currently sitting down on a bench wrapped up in a wool blanket, and offered her his glass. She took it gratefully and downed at least half of its contents in a few seconds. Another taller man, who looked to be a manservant or bodyguard of some sort, went to stand by Kate as well. The master-at-arms and the remaining man strutted straight up to Rick.

The master-at-arms yanked Rick's hands behind his back and slapped a pair of handcuffs on him while the other well-dressed man yelled at him.

"This is completely unacceptable!" the well-dressed man ranted on. "What made you think that you could put your hands on _my _fiancée?!"

Rick's eyes strayed over to where Kate was sitting and the man grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to him. "Look at me, you filth!"

"Josh."

"What did you think you were doing? Huh? You like to go around and touch other people's things?!"

"Josh!" Kate called out, interrupting his tirade of insults towards the man who had saved her life. She got up out of her seat and raced over to where they were standing. "Josh, stop! It was an accident," she said.

The man named Josh let go of Rick's shirt. "An accident?" he repeated.

"Yes," she said. "It was stupid, really. I was leaning over the railing, and I slipped." She looked at Rick and tried to communicate with him through her eyes, to go along with what she was saying.

"I was leaning far over to see the, uh…uh….uh…the, uh…" Kate made s twirling motion with her hand and so he ventured a guess as to what she was going to say.

"The propellers," he announced. When all eyes turned towards him, Rick continued, "She was leaning over to see the propellers when I saw her slip. I ran over as fast as I could to help her out. The guys, here," he gestured towards the crew members, "just happen to have _the worst timing_ so it looked like something totally different had happened than what really did."

"Yes, I would've gone overboard if Mr. Castle hadn't saved me. In fact, he almost went over himself," Kate added.

"You wanted to see…She wanted to see the propellers," Josh said more to himself than anyone else who was present.

The man who had given Kate the glass of brandy gave his input. "Like I've always said, woman and machinery do not mix."

Rick saw Kate roll her eyes and he looked at his feet to hide the smirk that had made an appearance on his face.

"But," the man went on, "if that's the way of it, then the boy's a hero." He raised the glass of brandy in the air in a silent toast and drank some of the liquid.

Josh placed his hands on Kate's shoulders and rubbed his hands up and down her arms a few times saying, "Look at you. You must be freezing. Come on, let's go inside."

The master-at-arms unhandcuffed Rick and walked off with the crew members, all of whom had duties and responsibilities to return to. As Josh and Kate walked by the brandy man, the man said "Uh, perhaps a little something for the, boy?"

Josh raised an eyebrow, but replied, "Of course. Mr. Demming, I think a twenty should do it."

_Wow, really, _Rick said to himself. _I just saved the woman you "love" and all you can do is pay me a twenty dollar bill? Jackass_

He heard Kate let a tiny laugh out and she inquired, "Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?"

_My thoughts exactly._

Josh cocked his head to side and mumbled, "Uh oh, Kate is displeased. What to do? What to do?" Finally, he said, "Ah, I know just the thing." He started over to where Rick was standing and said, "Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow evening, Mr. …Castle, was it?" When Rick nodded affirmation, Josh continued, "You can regale our group with…your heroic tale."

Rick didn't necessarily want to go join a bunch of rich snobs for dinner, but if he went, that meant he would be able to see Kate again. "Sure, count me in."

Josh smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes as he said, "Good. It's settled, then."

When Josh turned his back to Rick and began walking away, Rick made eye contact with Kate once more. She gave him a brief, but genuine smile, before Josh led her away.

Rick picked up his heavy coat from where it was laying on the ground and realized that the manservant guy had lingered behind.

"Hey, uh, you got any smokes on you?" Rick asked.

The guy, _Demming, that's his name,_ thought Rick, pulled a small tin container out an inside pocket in his jacket and opened it up for the other man.

"Thanks," Rick muttered as he took two from the container.

Demming simply looked down and informed him, "You might want to tie those."

Rick glanced down and say that his boots were still untied from when he had taken them off earlier.

"It's interesting," Demming went on. "The young lady slipped so suddenly and you still had time to remove your jacket and your shoes." The man smirked at Rick and then went inside.

Rick stood there, stuck in his place for a moment, before he wandered off and sat down on a bench. He whistled softly and said out loud to himself, "Boy, what a night it's been."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

_Boy, what a night it's been,_ Kate thought to herself as she sat down at a desk.

As soon as Josh had brought her back to the suite, Kate had excused herself and went off to the dressing room with Lanie in tow. "What happened?" Lanie had demanded as soon as the door had closed. And when Kate gave her a summarized version of the events, leaving out that she almost jumped off the ship, that took place not too long before, the black woman had nearly squealed with joy.

"So you got to see him again?" she had asked.

"You mean, Rick?"

"Oh, so now it's 'Rick'?" Lanie inquired with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, shut up," Kate told her, but a tiny grin had forced its way onto her features. "But yes, I got to see him again. He's actually coming to eat dinner with us in the dining hall tomorrow so…yeah."

"Girl, you are a walking fairytale with that man," Lanie had said.

Kate had shaken her head while her cheeks turned a pink color from the blush that had risen. "Oh, stop it and get this damn dress off me," she had ordered.

Now, Kate was in her own room, staring at herself in the mirror attached to her desk while she gently brushed her hair. A knock sounded on the door and when it opened, she looked at the reflection the mirror gave off. It was Josh.

He stood in the door frame and told her, "I know you've been upset and melancholy lately. I don't know why nor do I pretend to know why."

Kate set down the brush on the desk and gazed at her fiancée in the mirror. Josh stepped away from the door frame and walked over to her. He untucked something, a box it seemed, from in between his arm and his side and held out to her. "I meant to save this until the engagement gala next week. But I thought tonight, what with all that happened."

He opened the box and Kate gasped when she saw what lay inside on the bed of velvet. Her eyes widened and she tentatively reached out a hand to touch it. "It" was a necklace, that had a heart-shaped gem of some sort at the end that was the size of a golf ball.

"Let this be a reminder of my feelings for you, Kate," Josh whispered softly. "It's a diamond. A very rare, blue diamond. 56 carats to be exact." He took the necklace out of the box and draped it around her neck, fastening it.

"It was worn by Louis XVI and they called it '_Le Coeur De La Mer,_'" he said.

"The Heart of the Ocean," they both translated at the same time.

Josh smiled while Kate ran her fingers around the edge of the heart. "It's overwhelming," she stated finally.

"Well, it's meant for royalty. We _are _royalty, Kate," he told her. When she didn't say anything, he knelt beside her chair and said, "You know, there's nothing I couldn't give you, Kate. Nothing I'd deny you if you would not deny me. Now open your heart to me, Kate."

When she was still silent he sighed and left the room. Once he left, Kate removed the necklace from around her throat and laid it carefully back in its box. She stood up, turned off the lights and crawled into her bed.

She was laying there, thinking about all that had transpired that day. The only thing that really stood out in her mind was meeting _him_. Rick. He'd shown more care for her in a couple hours than her mother and her fiancée had in the past week. He was absolutely mesmerizing and he _was _handsome, that she could admit. There was something about him, though, that told her he was trouble. It wasn't that he was a third class passenger because not all third classmen were scum as proved by earlier tonight. Whatever it was that told her to stay away from him, she didn't care about it. She wanted to see Rick again. She _needed _to see him again. And goddamn it, she was going to.

**A/N: So there was the latest chapter. I hope you guys liked it and trust me, the more you review, the more motivation I have for actually sitting my ass down and writing the next chapter. I'll try to update sooner than I did with this chapter, but I make no guarantees as I have finals on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thanks for reading this guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you those of you who reviewed and followed this, your support makes me feel like I'm actually writing a good story. If at any time you guys feel like you have any ideas about what you might want to see happen or anything like that, feel free to just send me a message and I'll try my best to find a place for it. My goal is to try to please and satisfy you guys. By the way, I do mention Castle and Beckett's birthdays in this chapter, but it'll only be the day and month. I'm going to leave out the year because frankly, I don't feel like doing the math to get what their accurate ages would be. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Titanic, or any of the plots, lines, or characters.**

Kate woke up at around 7 o'clock the next morning. She crawled out of bed, wishing that she could just stay in it a little longer, but knowing that it couldn't happen. It seems her mother thought that her presence at every meal on the ship was required.

Lanie was already awake and setting out Kate's dress for breakfast. "It's about damn time you're awake," the maid said once she spotted Kate up and moving. "I was just about ready to drag your scrawny ass outta that damn bed."

Kate chuckled. "Oh, shut up. My ass isn't scrawny, Lanie," she retorted.

Lanie shrugged and said, "Whatever floats your boat." She paused and then added, "No pun intended."

A grin covered Kate's face as she asked, "Oh, how would I get along without you?"

"Simple: you wouldn't. There'd be no one to whom you ranted, no one to make you laugh or smile." A smirk appeared on the woman's face and she said, "Well, at least no one until you met Rick."

Kate rolled her eyes and said, "Lanie, we've barely talked, and when we actually did, he was trying to-" she cut herself off abruptly, nearly forgetting that she hadn't told Lanie she almost jumped off the ship. "Never mind, help me get ready for breakfast."

Her friend wasn't about to let her slide by, though, because she asked, "He was trying to, what?" When Kate said nothing, Lanie pushed on. "What actually happened last night, Kate? I got the feeling like you weren't being completely honest with me and now I know you weren't. So what happened?"

She was silent for a few long moments before whispering, "I almost killed myself last night, Lanie."

Kate heard a sharp intake of breath and then, "Oh Kate…why?"

Kate struggled with how much she should say, but then it all just came out. "I just couldn't take it anymore. My mother and Josh treat me like I'm dirt, or worse: nothing. It's like I don't have a hand in anything I do or say. Everything has to be done according to _their_ standards. If I speak my mind or even speak _at all_, I'm reprimanded, scolded. They think they have to make _every _decision for me and it's like I don't have a mind and can't think for myself. I was just…sick of it. I was sick and tired of _everything_. I wanted it all to go away and I knew the best way was for me to just…die. To be gone forever."

By the end of her tirade, Kate had tears running down her cheeks and she was breathing hard. Lanie wrapped her arms around her friend's waist and hugged her tightly. Kate's arms found their way around Lanie's shoulders and stayed there. The two women remained locked in that position for a few minutes before Kate finally calmed down.

They broke apart and Lanie said, "I'm so sorry, Kate. I had no idea that it was that bad."

She began searching the room for a tissue when Kate replied, "Why would you? It's not like I'm _that_ big a sharer of my private life."

"Yeah, but even so, I'm a _maid_. It's practically a law that we are to know what's going on in the household at all times, even if we find out through…certain means of doing so."

Kate let out a small laugh, knowing exactly what her friend meant by "certain means." "Lanie, you haven't used your 'certain means' in years. When was the last time you've ever had to eavesdrop on me or anyone else for that matter?"

The maid shrugged and told her, "I don't know. It's been a while. There hasn't been a need to ever since you and I became friends and you started telling me what went on…or at least you _used to_ tell me what went on."

Kate smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Lanie. I wanted to tell you, but I just…I didn't know how you would take it. I really _am _sorry."

Lanie smiled and replied, "Fine, apology accepted. But, what were you gonna say about Rick earlier before we got a little sidetracked?"

Kate thought for a moment before she said, "Oh! He was trying to talk me out of jumping off the back of the ship. I didn't actually lean over to see the propellers, if you haven't guessed by now."

"And how'd he do that?"

"I'm not really sure."

At her friend's pointed look Kate said, "No, I swear, I'm not. He just…He kind of just wormed his way over to me and convinced me not to jump. He was…nice and…sweet." A soft smile dawned on her face and she lost her train of thought as she remembered all that Rick had done for her last night.

Lanie was watching as her friend drifted off into dreamland, so she snapped her fingers in front of Kate's face, startling her back into the real world. When Kate looked at her, Lanie said, "Wow, he must be one hell of a guy to get you to act like this."

Kate blushed and replied, "I wouldn't actually know, we haven't really talked all that much."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Lanie demanded exasperatedly. "An invitation? Go find him and then find out all about him."

"It's not that simple, Lanie. He's a third class passenger," Kate explained. "What am I supposed to do? Just walk down to third class and try to locate him?"

"Uh, yeah," the other woman responded with a "duh" look on her face.

"You are absolutely no help," Kate informed her.

"Well, fine then. You can just get dressed by yourself today. Good luck trying to tighten up the back of that dress all alone."

Lanie began to saunter off and had just put her hand on the bedroom doorknob, when Kate whined, "Wait, don't go! I can't put on this dress by myself. Help me, please. C'mon, Lanie."

Lanie turned back around and said, "I'll help you with your dress, if you go find Rick today."

"But-"

"Nope. No buts," Lanie interrupted.

Kate weighed the decision, threw her arms in the air, and finally said, "Oh, alright. Now, come help with this damn thing so I won't actually be late for breakfast."

"As the mistress commands," her friend said mockingly.

"Oh, shut up."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Lanie had just put the finishing touches on Kate's makeup when a knock sounded on the door and a voice called out, "Are you almost done, Kate? We're ready to go eat breakfast now." It was Josh.

"Just a second, Josh, I'm nearly done with my makeup," came her response.

Lanie finished applying the small amount of blush onto her friend's cheeks and stood back. "Perfect," she observed. "Rick won't know what hit him."

Kate smiled, but warned, "Lanie, I'm getting married. Don't get your hopes up too high that anything other than a friendly talk will happen."

"A girl can dream," was the only thing she said.

Kate rolled her eyes and opened the door that led to main sitting room of their suite. Her mother and Josh were chatting politely to each other when they saw her enter the room.

Josh walked over to her, planted a light kiss on her cheek and said, "You look lovely." He offered her his arm, which she took, and then added, "Now, I don't know about you two ladies, but I'm starving and would like to get something to eat."

He herded them out of the suite and onto the elevator that was waiting in the grand hall. The stairs were right there, but Josh insisted on using the elevator as much as possible. "They're there for a reason, so why not use them?" is what he would repeat to Kate every time she asked about using them taking the stairs instead of the elevators. She just concluded that he was lazy like most of the other rich people she saw on the _Titanic_. The stairs were seldom used except by the select few who only had a level or two to go up or down.

When they reached the dining hall, the three found a table and sat down at it. Her mother and Josh immediately began conversing with the others there as usual, but Kate kept to herself for the entire meal. She didn't even bother to sneak in a snarky or sarcastic comment. She was too busy trying to figure out if she snuck off for a bit, would they notice her absence.

Eventually she came to the conclusion that even if her mother or Josh did notice, they wouldn't particularly care all that much so long as she didn't get herself into something like what happened the night before.

She excused herself from the table and once again, neither Josh nor Johanna seemed to really pay all that much attention as both were currently engrossed in separate conversations. She left the dining hall in a haste and made her way outside onto the deck in hopes that Rick would possibly be waiting and looking for her from a couple decks away.

It seemed, though, that he wasn't there. She stood there for a few minutes just to make sure that he wasn't going to come walk around a bend or corner and make his presence known. She vacated the area as he clearly wasn't there, and then contemplated her choices. She could just wait a little longer for him outside on the slim possibility of him actually showing up there again. _No, that would waste too much time,_ she thought. _I can just wander around for a bit. Who knows? Maybe he'll find me instead of the other way around._ But that wouldn't work, he was third class and the only place a third class passenger would be was _in_ his third class level. _Ugh, fuck me, I'm gonna have to look for his room, aren't I? Well, this ought to be fun, _she thought with a grimace.

Kate started off in the direction of the lower level stairs that would take her through the second and into the third class passenger halls. She walked down countless small staircases and wound through what seemed to be an endless maze of hallways until she finally reached her goal: the third class level.

She was about five steps into the area when she noticed a considerable difference between these people and even the second class passengers. Most of these people looked to be immigrants, poor foreigners traveling to America in hopes of a better life. Kate saw children and adults of all ages and sizes, some sitting in the middle of the hallway playing a game, others standing off to the side having conversations in a variety of languages. All had one thing in common, though: they all stared at her as she past by them.

_Well, of course they're gonna stare at you, Kate, _she chided herself. _You're dressed head-to-toe in finery and smell like first class. What would you being doing down here?_

Deciding that she should man up, and just get this over with as soon as possible, she approached a Hispanic looking couple and said in Spanish, "Excuse me, but do you know where I can find a Rick Castle?"

The couple looked confused and shook both shook their heads "no." _Damn it all to hell. Where the hell could he be?_

"I'm sorry, but did you just say that you were looking for a guy named Rick Castle?" a voice from behind her asked.

She spun around and saw a familiar looking man standing there. _That's one of the guys Rick was talking to when I first saw him,_ she realized.

"Yeah, I am. Do you know where I can find him?"

The man looked her over as if trying to figure out what such a well-dressed young woman would want with Rick. After a moment he snapped his fingers in recognition and announced, "You're her! You're that girl from yesterday that had him so captivated!"

Kate blushed, but nodded her affirmation. "Yes, I believe that would be me."

The man extended his hand and said, "I'm Javier Esposito. Rick's a friend of mine."

She accepted his handshake and asked, "Kate Beckett. I'm glad I met you just now. I was beginning to get a little lost. Could you tell me where he is? I kind of wanna talk to him."

"Yeah, sure. I'll actually lead you straight to him. We share a room with two other guys and I was just heading back there anyway. He should be up by now."

"Does he not like to wake up in the morning?"

"Who, Rick? _Hell _no-I mean, heck no. Sorry, I didn't mean to curse in front of you like that," Esposito apologized.

Kate laughed and then said, "It's okay, Espo. I curse like a fucking sailor sometimes. There's no need to hide that kind of language from me."

As they began walking off towards the room, Esposito said in awe, "That's so cool." He though back to what she'd said, then added, "And 'Espo'?"

Kate grinned and stated, "Well, I didn't think 'Javi' or 'Javier' was manly enough for a guy like you. I wanted to give you a semi-original nickname."

Esposito raised an eyebrow impressed. "Huh. I get the feeling like we could be great friends."

Kate glanced over at him as they approached Esposito and Rick's room. "Yeah? So do I."

"Well, here we are," Esposito announced as he turned the knob and opened up the door. Rick was laying on the bed on his back with his mouth hanging slightly open. A pad of paper was laying on his stomach and Kate saw a pencil next to his hand on the bed. He had on a pair of pants with the suspenders on them hanging freely. _Oh my God, he's not wearing a shirt,_ Kate realized.

Esposito grabbed Rick's pillow and hit him in the face with it, yelling, "Yo, get your ass up. You got a visitor." He looked back at Kate who was standing in the doorway with an amused expression and added, "And what a gorgeous visitor it is."

Rick sat up with a start and scrambled to keep from throwing his pad of paper on the floor. He looked around and stopped when he saw that Kate was standing in the doorway.

"Kate," he said. "What, um," he stood up and tried to flatten his hair which was sticking out in all directions due to his current case of bed head. "What're you doing here?"

Kate chewed on her lower lip, the confidence and playfulness she had felt around Esposito was suddenly gone. Eventually she asked, "Can we talk? Once you get…dressed, of course."

Rick, realizing that he didn't have a shirt on, hurried to find one and put it on, while Esposito stifled a laugh.

"Yeah, sure," he said as soon as he was fully clothed. "What about?"

"Um, I meant can we talk…in private," she corrected with a side glance at Esposito.

"Of course," Rick replied. "Just let me grab something real quick."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Rick led them back through the endless maze of hallways, corridors, and staircases until they finally reached the upper level. Then it was Kate's turn to lead the man around as they were in first class territory and she knew it better than him.

She led him outside, onto the open deck, and they sat down at two of the lounge chairs set out for the passengers. Rick kept his eyes on Kate as she looked down at her hands, thinking of something to say.

They sat in awkward silence for several long moments before Rick finally broke it. "Do you know how much a polar bear weighs?"

Kate, startled from her thoughts, gave him a bewildered look. "No…"

"Enough to break the ice," he said with a grin.

Laughter bubbled up in her chest and she couldn't contain it. Her enjoyment of his joke caused his grin to become wider and he began laughing as well.

Kate's laughter faded and she said, "Thank you for that. I really needed it."

"Of course," came his response. "My, uh, my mom told me that when I was little. Haven't forgotten it since and I use it all the time."

"Your mom told you that? She's a funny woman," Kate said.

Rick's smile dimmed slightly and he confirmed, "Yeah, she was."

"Was?"

"She died when I was about 15."

Kate looked away in shame and said, "Oh, Rick, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

The man was quick to reassure her that it was alright. "There's no way you could've known…unless you've been stalking me this whole time," he exclaimed. "Quick, what's my favorite color?"

Kate laughed again and asked, "How could I possibly know the answer to that question?"

"Because you're stalking me," came the simple reply.

"Rick, I'm not stalking you," she informed him.

He comically deflated and heaved a great sigh. "Well, that's a shame." He waggled his eyebrows. "I wouldn't mind a pretty lady like you stalking me in her free time."

Kate blushed. "I don't know whether that's a compliment or not."

"Oh trust me, it's a compliment."

"Well then, thank you, I guess."

"You're welcome."

She stared quizzically at the man before her until he finally said, "What? Do I have something in my hair?"

As he checked his hair, she giggled, yes _giggled_, and said, "No, you're hair's fine."

Rick lowered his hands until they rested in his lap. "Well then what is it?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," she waved it off. Changing the subject, she asked, "So, I've heard a tiny bit about your mother, but what about your father? What's he like?"

A small cloud came over Rick's face as he told her, "Don't know. I never knew him. My mom got pregnant with me when she was young, maybe about 15. She was always the rebellious type, never listened to her parents. So when she became pregnant, her parents tossed her out on her ass. I guess my dad would have to be the boyfriend she was dating at the time, but she never told me who it was. Swore she would take the secret to her grave, and that she did."

Kate was listening intently and hanging on every word he spoke, as if his words were air that she needed to breath.

"And on the first of April, I blessed the world, by coming into it." When Kate snorted, he turned to her and said, "You know it's true. Now hush, and let me finish." She rolled her eyes, but let him continue.

"_Anyway,_ every time I would ask my mother who my dad was, she would say 'He doesn't deserve you, Rick, so why concern yourself with thoughts about him'?' Looking back now, I can see the logic in her words, but I do wanna know who he is. If only so that I can pop him one right in the face and say 'That was for my mother, you son of a bitch.'"

Kate put a hand on his shoulder and said, "And I'm sure one day it will."

He gave her a crooked smile and inquired, "What about you? Are you famously fatherless, as well?" When she didn't immediately respond, he backtracked. "I mean, you don't have to tell me anything about it if you are." He mentally kicked himself for being such an insensitive jackass.

"My dad died a few years ago," she said suddenly. Looking up into Rick's bright blue eyes, she added, "He was murdered, actually. Stabbed and left to bleed out in an old alley."

Rick's jaw dropped open the tiniest bit. "I'm so sorry."

A corner of her mouth lifted and Kate thanked him. "I sometimes wish that I could be more upset about it, though."

Rick looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that before he died, he had spent all of my family's money on random things. We were forced to sell our house and nearly all of our belongings in order to pay back the debts my dad left us to deal with. Am I sad that he was taken from us? Yes, of course I am, but at the same time, I can't help but hold so much disdain for him for all that's happened to my mother and I and it makes me feel terrible."

"Hey, come on, cut yourself some slack. You're human, like everyone else in this world. Anyone, would be a little pissed at their dad if he had done those things to them," Rick consoled.

"I know, but still."

"So, what happened after you guys had to sell everything?"

"Well, one day, I forget how, but I ended up catching the eye of a Mr. Joshua Davidson. His dad's rich so by default, his whole family is rich. As soon as Josh laid eyes on me, he wanted to marry me, or at least that's what he says. I don't believe in love at first sight."

"What?" came the incredulous response. "How can you not believe in love at first sight?"

"Because. It's stupid. It's impractical. It's-"

"Magical. It's real. It's-"

"Ridiculous. It's silly. It's-"

"Wonderful. It's breath-taking. It's light in a world of dark. It's beauty in a world of hate. It's simplicity in a world of complexity. It's having your heart beat so strongly for one person when you first see them. You look into their eyes and it's like you've known them their entire life. You can see all the secrets they hide, all the fears they keep locked away."

Kate was speechless and realized that at some point during their verbal sparring match, they had gotten closer to each other's faces. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the man in front of her. Instead of pulling back like she knew she should, she leaned in just a tad bit closer.

Rick saw her eyes flick down to his lips and he swallowed hard. Both of their eyes fluttered closed and the leaned in until their lips were only a few inches apart. Everything outside of their world was shut out for the moment. The gulls squawking in the distance, the far off sound of people chatting a few yards away. All of it now fell deaf to their ears.

He felt Kate hesitate the slightest little bit and thought about whether he should actually kiss her. When he felt her hand cover one of his that was resting on his leg, he made up his mind. Lightly placing one hand on Kate's cheek, Rick leaned in to close the rest of the distance.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: A big thanks to those of you who followed and reviewed, your support is still amazing to me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Titanic, or any of the lines, plots, or characters.**

"Why didn't you bring my coat!" a voice screeched from a few feet away.

Rick and Kate, both startled from the sudden sound, jumped apart. Both were breathing heavily and Kate was trying to avoid looking at him. She glanced around to find the source of their interruption and saw a finely dressed woman, who looked to be in her late thirties, scolding a maid.

"You dim-witted wench," the woman insulted. "Go back to the rooms and fetch my coat. And be quick about it!" she snapped.

As the maid scurried off to do as bid, Kate shook her head. Some people were just too mean spirited for their own good. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rick staring at her and her cheeks reddened. He was doing it again: gazing at her like he see right into her soul. It was a little unnerving to say the least.

Clearing her throat, she asked, "Can we, um…Could we just forget that whatever was about to happen a couple minutes ago, never, um, happened?"

Rick was a little disappointed if he was being honest with himself, but reading the subtle plea in her tone, he conceded. "Of course."

She gave him a grateful smile and then they lapsed into an awkward silence, neither knowing how to continue on the conversation from there.

Finally, Kate broke it and said, "Do you wanna take a walk around the deck?"

"Sure," Rick replied. He gathered up a pad of paper that Kate had barely even noticed he'd had with him.

They set off at a leisurely pace side by side. "So…the weather's nice today," Rick commented.

She turned her head, raised an eyebrow and said, "Really? That's the best thing you can come up with?"

"Hey, I don't see _you_ saying anything to break the silence."

She scoffed. "I'm the one who suggested that we go on a walk. I shouldn't have to be the one to break the silence again. It's your turn now."

" 'It's _my_ turn now'? What're we doing? Taking turns with who has to break our many silences?" he questioned.

"Apparently so," was her response. After a few seconds, she said, "But yes, the weather _is _pretty today." Knowing that their conversation would end very quickly again if she didn't change the topic, she asked, "So, what _is_ your favorite color?"

Seeing his confused look, she added, "You know, when you accused me of stalking you and then asked me if I knew what your favorite color was?"

"No, yeah, I remember that. I just…I didn't think you would actually care enough to want to know anymore about me than you already do," he explained.

Kate had an amused look on her face and accidentally said, "Rick, if I didn't care about knowing anything else about you, I probably wouldn't have sought you out earlier."

A smug grin found its way onto his face, "So, you wanted to get to know me and that's why you tried to find me?"

"No, of course not," she tried backtrack, but it didn't work. _Damn it,_ she thought. _Why did I have to let that slip out. I shouldn't have listened to Lanie. I should've just thanked him and left him. _"Now, tell me your favorite color so that we can just move on from this," she ordered.

"Whoa, testy," he said. When she scowled at him, he said, "Blue, my favorite color's blue. And you're kinda cute when you get angry."

Even though she rolled her eyes at him, she couldn't stop a corner of her mouth from lifting in a small smile. "Mine's purple," she said. "Although I don't get to wear it much because Josh and my mother have said that I don't look very flattering in it."

Rick frowned. "They're crazy. I mean like, absolutely nuts. You could look beautiful in a paper bag without even really trying."

She blushed for about the tenth time since meeting Rick and said, "I don't see you wear all that much blue."

"Well, that's because most poor people's clothes are colored brown. I like to think of it as a reminder that we're only dirt and pieces of shit in the grand scheme of things," he replied dryly.

Kate shook her head. "You're not dirt, or a piece of shit, Rick. You're a decent man. I haven't known you for very long, but that much I can tell."

Rick tipped an imaginary hat and said, "Why, thank you, my dear."

As they rounded a corner, Kate shoved him lightly and scolded, "Don't call me that. I hate pet names more than anything else in this world."

"Yes, darling," was his reply.

"Rick, I swear, bad things will happen, if you continue," she warned.

"Of course, sweetheart," he went on with a grin on his face. He began walking a little faster in order to get away from her. "My love, my cupcake, my angel, my-ow!" She had grabbed his ear and had twisted, hard.

"Okay, okay, okay! I give, I'm done! Ow! Apples, apples!" he screamed.

She let go of his ear with a satisfied smile and asked, "Why were you saying 'apples'?"

He rubbed his sore ear and responded, "It's my safe word."

"Wow, really?" came the unimpressed reply.

"Yeah, 'cause, you know, you don't usually say the word apples in the middle of se-"

"Yes, yes, I know what a safe word is. No need to explain it to me," she interrupted.

"Why, Ms. Beckett, how do _you_ know what a safe word is?" he asked with a smile.

She bit her lower lip and decided to tease him. _Payback's a bitch,_ she thought. She walked up to him until she could whisper in his ear seductively, "Well, Mr. Castle, I _did_ have a wild child phase when I was younger. I'm sure your imagination can figure out the rest. "

The smile dropped right off of his face, and his eyes widened. She sauntered off and he could see that her hips had an extra sway to them. He gulped loudly and thought, _Holy shit, this woman's gonna kill me._

He caught up to her and said, "That wasn't nice. Where did you grow up? In the Home of Teasing and Torture?"

She chuckled and said, "Oh lighten up, it wasn't _that_ bad. And no, I didn't grow up in a home of teasing and torture. I actually grew up in New York."

Surprised at her revelation, he said, "New York? No way, I grew up there too. Well isn't this a small world?" Then he asked, "How'd you find yourself in England if you're from the States?"

"When my father died," she explained, "my mother and I were left nearly dirt poor. I've already told you this once so I'm not gonna do it again, but like I said, I caught the attention of Josh and he started pursuing me, even though I had practically nothing left to my name. Anyway, long story short, we got engaged and we were in England to visit some of Josh's relatives. He decided that we should stay long enough to be able to ride the _Titanic_ back to New York." After a pause, she inquired, "So why were _you_ in England if you grew up in America. How does a po-well a, less fortuna-"

Rick laughed and told her, "Go on, you can say it. I'm poor, I've accepted that a long time ago."

Kate went on, "So how does a poor person, like yourself, find themselves in another continent?"

Rick looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I have a gift for the creative arts. I can draw really well, but my true passion is writing. I draw pictures of people with this thing," he lifted up the pad of paper in his hands, "and a lot of times, those people buy the drawing. Eventually, I made enough money to get on a ship over to Europe and now I just kind of wander from place to place. Making some money here, a little there. I spent a lot of time in Paris, though. I met Javi in Barcelona a few years back and we've been best friends ever since. We had only been in England a week before today, though."

They lapsed into a silence after Rick was done speaking. Kate realized that they were still walking around the deck. Her legs had been on auto-pilot the entire time. When she heard Rick clear his throat, she looked at him.

"Well, Kate, we've walked about a mile around this deck. We've chewed over how pretty the weather is today," she saw a small twinkling in his eye and she chuckled, "and some of the events that have happened to us in the past. But you still haven't told me why you brought me up here. Deny it all you want, but I know one of the reasons was to get to know me better, so what's the other one?"

They were approaching the chairs that they had sat on not too long ago. Kate sighed and said, "Look, Rick, I…I want to thank you for what you did last. Not just for…for keeping me from falling into the ocean, but also for your discretion. I felt terrible all last night that I hadn't thanked you and so this morning I sought you out. I just…thank you, for saving me."

They had stopped walking and were now standing by the railing. Rick, looked into Kate's eyes and said, "Always."

Kate found that for the millionth time she couldn't look away. He briefly smiled at her before he broke his gaze off. Able to now turn somewhere else, she stared out at the water that lay before her. "I know what you're probably thinking," she said.

Rick turned back to face her. "What am I probably thinking?" he asked puzzled.

"Poor little rich girl. She has everything now, why would she want to throw it all away?"

Rick grabbed onto one of the ropes that held one of the ship's massive smoke stacks in place and replied, "No, that's not what I was thinking at all. What I was thinking was what could've happened to this girl recently to make her think she had no way out?"

Kate leaned against the railing and exhaled deeply. "It was a combination of everything. The things that have happened in the past and the things that are happening right now. Everybody's so determined to not let me have my own life or a say in anything. I'm to act a certain way, not say certain things. It was all just too much."

She held out her left hand and showed him her engagement ring. When he saw the size of the diamond on it, he exclaimed, "God, look at that thing! No wonder it was so hard to pull you up last night," he joked.

She didn't feel like laughing, though. "About 500 invitations have already gone out and everyone's gonna be there at the wedding. Every little girl always imagines what their wedding will be like when they get married, but this wasn't my dream. I just wanted something small, but Josh wasn't having it."

Rick frowned and took a risk. "Do you love him?"

Kate's head snapped toward him. "What?"

"Do you love him?" he repeated.

"You shouldn't ask me that," she stated. "I may've told you about my past, but my love life is none of your concern or business."

"Well, it's a simple question, Kate. Do you love the guy or not?"

"I'm not gonna tell you that."

"C'mon, why can't you just answer the question?" he asked.

She laughed nervously and told him, "I'm gonna answer that question because, as I stated, it is _none _of your business. We've traded sob stories about our lives, but I do _not_ need to give you answer to your question."

"Well, from the way your acting, I would say that you don't," Rick declared.

"You can't assume that. You don't know anything about me."

"Actually, I do," he countered. "You just told me a bunch of things."

She glared at him and said, "Fine then, if you're gonna be rude and presumptuous, then I'm leaving." She grabbed his hand to shake it and announced, "Rick, it's been a pleasure. I sought you out to thank you-"

"And get to know me," he interrupted.

"-and now I _have_ thanked you," she went on like he hadn't said anything.

"You forgot to mention that you insulted me too," he added.

She gaped at him and stated, "You deserved it." Not realizing that she was still shaking his hand, she waited for his witty comeback. When there was none, she said, "Goodbye."

"Bye."

Rick glanced down at their hands, still clasped and shaking, and said, "I thought you were leaving."

She finally broke off the handshake and informed him, "I am," as she turned to go. "You are so annoying!" she exclaimed.

"I prefer to think of it as charming," was the response.

Kate had walked a few feet when she realized something. "Wait, what the hell am I doing? I don't have to leave, this is my part of the ship." She spun around and walked back to where Rick was standing with one hand in his pocket, the other holding is pad of paper. "You leave," she demanded.

"Well, well, well, now who's being rude?" he mocked.

She scoffed and paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. _Goddamn it,_ she thought._ He's won this round._ Trying to find something so that she could divert the spotlight away from her, her eyes landed on his pad of paper. Grabbing it, she opened it up and said, "Let's see how well of an artist you actually are if people are willing to pay for your drawings."

Flipping page after page, Kate grew very silent and somber. She was in a state of shock and awe. Rick really _was_ a good artist. In fact, his drawings could probably rival some of the famous paintings that could be found in her room.

She sat down on one of the lounge chairs that was a few feet away and continued to flip through the pad. Rick sat down right beside her, watching her carefully and trying to gauge what she thought about his drawings.

"These are…they're really good," she said finally. Flipping to another page, she added, "Rick this is exquisite work."

Ever the modest and humble man, he replied, "They didn't think too much of them when I was in Paris."

When she stumbled upon a picture of a naked woman, Kate was caught off guard. "And these were…drawn from life?" she asked him. A man was walking by them and Kate closed the pad a little in order to keep the guy from seeing what they were looking at. What a scandal it would be if word got out that she was looking at drawings of naked women with a third class passenger!

Rick stated smugly, "Well, that's one of the good things about Paris: lots of girls are willing to take their clothes off."

Kate looked at him, laughed, and shook her head. "You're a jackass, you know that?"

His only response was to grin.

Looking at another picture, Kate realized that she had seen this woman several times before. "You've drawn this woman a lot, Rick. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you must've had an affair with her."

"How do you know I didn't?" he asked of her.

She looked at him sharply, and he chuckled, "Kidding, I'm kidding. Nah, she wasn't really my type. She had a great body that was a lot of fun to draw, but that's as far as any relationship of ours ever went."

Raising an eyebrow, Kate queried, "You sure about that?"

"Take a closer look at the next picture and you'll see that something's missing," he responded.

Puzzled, she scanned the next one and understanding dawned upon her face. "She only had one leg?"

"Yep. She was a one-legged prostitute. I sure as hell, wasn't gonna sleep with that."

Kate rolled her eyes. "You're so shallow."

Rick shrugged. "I tell it like it is."

"Oh, this lady," he exclaimed. "Every night, she would sit in this bar, wearing every piece of jewelry she owned, just waiting for her long-lost love. I called her Madame Bijou."

Staring at the picture in awe, Kate praised, "You have a gift, Rick. You do. You see people."

"I see you," he said.

Kate tossed her head to one side so that her hair was out of her face. Straightening her back and keeping her chin up in a semi-pose, she urged, "And?"

"You wouldn't have jumped."

She studied him and found that she didn't have a response to that.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

It was later in the afternoon and Johanna was sitting with two of her friends inside. They were drinking tea and having a polite conversation about the proper behavior for a young lady. _I can only hope Kate grows out of her childishness soon and start acting like a real woman of her status,_ Johanna thought.

"Well, the point of university is find a suitable husband," Johanna informed her friends. "Kate has already done that."

She was taking a sip of her tea when one of the women spotted Martha and said, "Look, here comes that vulgar Rodgers woman."

Setting down, her cup, Johanna urged, "Quickly, get up before she sits with us."

The three woman dabbed their mouths with their napkins and then stood just as Martha Rodgers walked over to them. She greeted, "Hello, girls. I was hoping I'd catch you at tea."

Johanna faked sincereness and said, "We're awfully sorry, but you missed it." Turning around, she added pointedly to the woman behind her, "The Countess and I were just off to take the air on the boat deck."

Martha, clueless as to the fact that they didn't want her around just then, added her input. "What a lovely idea. I need to catch up on my gossip."

Johanna forced a smile on her face and led the way outside, all the while thinking sarcastically, _Wonderful. Just absolutely wonderful._

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Mark Fallon was reading a report that had been written for him while Captain Montgomery sat across the table from him. When he was done, he commented, "So you've not yet lit the last four boilers?"

Captain Montgomery shook his head and explained, "No, I don't see the need. We're making excellent time. There's just no reason to push it."

Mr. Fallon folded up the report and told the captain, "The press knows the size of _Titanic_. Now, I want them to marvel at her speed. We must give them something new to print, something new for the people to read their tables in the morning." He took a drag of the cigarette that he was holding in his left hand and then proclaimed, "The maiden voyage of _Titanic_ must make headlines. Light the boilers."

As he sat back with self-satisfaction, Captain Montgomery shook his head yet again. Finally, he conceded. "Of course, Mr. Fallon. I'll get right on that."

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

Rick and Kate had been talking for hours. It was now nearly 5 in the evening and they hadn't once stopped. At lunch time, Kate had run inside, grabbed some food and brought it back out for them to share, but that the was the most amount of time they had spent apart all day. Rick was currently in the middle of telling her the odd jobs he worked while he wandered from place to place years ago.

"Well, after that I worked on a squid boat in Monterey." Kate was listening intently to him. "Then I went down to Los Angeles to the pier in Santa Monica and started doing portraits there for ten cents apiece. It's really surprising how many people want you to draw them when they realize that you actually _can_ draw."

Leaning on the railing, Kate said wistfully, "Why can't I be like you, Rick? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it?" A smile appeared on her face. "Say we'll go to the pier some day, even if we only ever just talk about it," she demanded.

Rick nodded his head and said, "No, we'll do it. We'll drink cheap beer. We'll ride on the roller coaster till we throw up. Then we'll ride horses on the beach right in the surf." He had a serious expression on his face when he added, "But you have to do it like a real cowboy."

"Is there any other way to do it?" Kate asked jokingly. When she saw the questioning look he had, she said, "What? You don't think I would ever ride sidesaddle do you?"

"Nope, never thought that for a second," Rick replied sarcastically.

She scoffed. "You're such an ass."

"Fair lady, you wound me with your words," Rick said dramatically with a hand held over his heart. "How will I ever recover from the injuries you have inflicted upon me?"

Kate let out a bark of laughter and replied, "Are you talking about the physical injuries from earlier, or how I cut you down with my words?"

Remembering how she had twisted his ear earlier, he sobered up and said, "Oh, yeah, ow. I was talking about your words, but maybe I should include the physical ones now too."

He reached up to rub his ear and she said, "Well, maybe while we're at the pier, I can buy you cotton candy to make up for it."

He grinned and said, "Deal."

They stood together in a comfortable silence while Rick stole glances at Kate from the corner of his eye. He either wasn't sneaky enough or she was just far more perceptive than he figured because she faced him and said, "Why do keep staring at me?"

Deciding to be honest, he said, "Because you're beautiful." When she just continued to stare at him, he went on. "The way the sun's shining on you? It makes you look ethereal, like a goddess or an angel. It's like I can't even take my eyes off of you for more than a few seconds at a time. How it's possible for someone to be so gorgeous and magnificent is beyond me."

By the time he was finished, her cheeks were crimson. Never in her life had someone described her as being ethereal. Josh had called her pretty before, but he'd never gone on to try to describe it as being much more than that. And the way Rick was staring at her, it was as if she was the only thing that mattered in this world. She didn't know what to say, so she just thanked him.

Smiling, Rick said, "You're welcome," and then turned back to face the horizon.

Of course, being the man that he is, Rick had to go ruin the beautiful moment by clearing his throat and then hawking a giant wad of spit off to the side. Cringing at it, Kate said, "Real classy, Rick."

"What? I had something bad in my mouth?" he claimed innocently.

"If you're gonna spit, you could at least do better than that," she goaded. "_I_ can spit farther than that."

Rick looked at her with an amused expression. "Why, Ms. Beckett, is that a challenge?"

Kate glanced at him, took his hand to lead him to the side of the deck that overlooked the water, and responded, "Yes, Mr. Castle, I do believe it is." Then she grabbed onto the wooden railing of the boat deck with both hands and loosed a wad of spit into the air. Turning to him smugly, she challenged, "Beat that."

"Oh it's on," he said. Rick began snorting and clearing his throat, gathering up all the spit he could before he launched it out of his mouth. It went about a few inches farther than Kate's had so she spit out another lugie, this time, hers going out by another foot.

Neither of them saw the three women who had their sights set on them and were fast approaching.

"Alright, you ready for this one?" Rick asked Kate. He was in the middle of trying to conjure up a giant lugie and was about to spit it out when he felt Kate furiously hitting his arm. He turned around, took in her horrified expression, and then looked at their visitors. He swallowed what was in his mouth and looked around awkwardly.

Kate, recovered from her horrified state, said, "Mother." She walked over to Johanna. "May I introduce Richard Castle?"

Johanna hardly even looked at Rick as she retorted, "Charmed, I'm sure."

Rick smiled politely and looked to the sole red-head of the group. An older woman whose eyes were much kinder than the other two women in the group. She gestured at his chin and he realized that he had some drool running down it. Hastily he wiped it off with his sleeve. He felt himself being scrutinized by Kate's mother and the other lady while Kate explained that he was the man who had saved her from falling overboard last night.

When she finished, the red-headed woman, whom Kate introduced as Martha Rodgers, told him, "Well, Richard, sounds like you're a good man to have around in a sticky spot."

Rick gave her a genuine smile and then he heard a trumpet go off behind them. Martha rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "Why do they always insist on announcing dinner like a damn cavalry charge?"

Rick laughed while Kate snorted, although her mother didn't look to amused. Kate took hold of her mother's arm and suggested, "Shall we go get dressed?" As they walked off, Kate spun back around to say, "See you at dinner, Rick," before leaving.

He waved goodbye and stood in his place, riveted by Kate. Distantly, he heard Martha calling his name, but he was too caught up with staring after Kate.

"Hey, kiddo!" Martha finally got his attention and when he looked at her, she asked, "Do you have the slightest comprehension what you're doing?"

"Not really," he replied.

"Well, you're about to go into the snake pit," she said. She gave him a once-over. "What're you planning to wear?"

He gestured to the outfit he was currently wearing and she shook her head and scoffed. "I figured. Come on." Leaving him no time to make a decision, she took his arm and led him away.

**A/N: There's the fifth chapter and up next will be the dinner and the third class party. Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but I couldn't figure out what to do differently. Thanks a bunch!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I sincerely apologize for not updating sooner, but the start of new classes has sort of swamped me as of late and then I recently fractured my finger so I was unable to type. Thank you very much to those of you who reviewed or followed this story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, Titanic, or any of the plots, lines, or characters.**

When Rick and Martha reached her suite, Martha rifled through a couple of her suitcases while Rick looked around and gawped at everything, his mouth open wide. Finding, what she had been searching for, Martha turned around and laughed. "If you think _this_ is extravagant then you have one hell of a night ahead of you, Richard."

Rick's jaw snapped shut and he eyed the object the woman held her hands. "Is that a tux?"

"You didn't think I'd let you go to dinner tonight without being properly dressed, did you?" she asked him.

Before he could answer, she thrust the clothing at him and ordered him to put it on. "How do you know it's gonna fit?" Rick questioned her.

"I don't," she retorted, "but you have the same build as my son so I'm just prayin' to God it does."

Chuckling quietly to himself, Rick went behind a dressing screen to slip into the tux. After putting on everything but the jacket, he stepped out to show Martha. The woman was beaming and promptly sat him a chair so that she could slick his hair back with gel.

"Is this really necessary?" Rick asked with contempt at having the gel in his hair.

"Trust me, you don't wanna walk into that room with your hair flopping everywhere."

Sighing, he walked over to the mirror and Martha helped him into the jacket that lay waiting draped over a chair. Not one to waste an opportunity to boast, Martha exclaimed, "I knew it! I was right, you and my son are just about the same size."

She looked him over as he adjusted the jacket and pulled on the sleeves, slightly uncomfortable in the stiffness of it. "Yeah, pretty close," Rick admired. After a moment of silence, he asked, "So, why are you helping me? I'm just third class. What's in it for you?"

The woman looked at him in the mirror and said, "Well, I'm just hoping that you'll show up those smug bastards tonight."

Rick looked surprised. "Anyone in particular, or just the people there in general?"

Martha chuckled and said, "Josh Davidson and Johanna Beckett."

"Why?"

"Josh is just a cocky, arrogant son of a bitch who doesn't treat a woman right and Johanna…well let's just say that woman's about as cold as water outside right now."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Rick replied sarcastically.

Martha shrugged. "She thinks that I don't know she and her friends don't want me around during tea or even at dinner because I irritate her, but I'll say this," she lowered her voice conspiratorially, "that makes hanging around her even more fun." She broke out laughing. When she had calmed down, she glanced at the clock on the wall and said, "I'll tell you what, you go on down to the Grand Staircase and I'll meet you there in a few minutes. There are a few things I must attend to before dinner."

Smiling at her, Rick nodded his head and left the suite. _I like her,_ he affirmed.

**/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/**

The Grand Staircase wasn't too far away, so Rick didn't have to walk that far. When he approached the wood and glass doors to the Staircase, a doorman opened it for him and greeted, "Good evening, sir," with a slight bow of his head.

Rick nodded quickly at the man and surveyed his surroundings. It was a marvelous place to be just then. People of all ages were dressed head-to-toe in evening attire and finery. Women wore long, beautiful dresses of a variety of colors while men wore tuxedoes and suits of black and white. The Grand Staircase itself was immaculate and spectacular. Part of the ceiling was a giant glass dome. Rick went to the wooden railing and looked out over the entire room.

Rick went over to the stairs and walked down the first set, passing a couple who was going up. They nodded to him and he nodded back, smiling politely. Descending the last set of steps, he tugged on his jacket nervously. He suddenly wished that Martha hadn't left him on his own just then.

He leaned against a wooden support beam and crossed his arms over his chest, observing everything with an alert eye. Realizing that he stood out far too much with his stance, he practiced the pose an older man several feet away was doing: feet slightly apart, back straight, and one arm behind his back.

Hearing familiar voices coming from upstairs, Rick turned around to see Josh descending the staircase with Johanna Beckett on his arm. _The dick didn't even care enough to escort Kate,_ Rick thought, his disdain for the other man growing with every encounter. Trying to be amicable, though, Rick stuck out his hand to Josh and Johanna, but the two passed him by, not even stopping to acknowledge his presence.

Retracting his hand, he scoffed and thought, _Assholes._ He was pretending to shake an invisible hand and greet an invisible person when he felt someone staring at him. He glanced up at the top of the staircase to the giant clock embedded into the wall and saw Kate standing there with an amused expression.

The moment their eyes met, the wind was knocked right out of him. He forgot how to breathe. He forgot how to even think. His jaw dropped slightly and he stared at her in awe. She had to be the most beautiful person he'd ever laid eyes on. She was wearing a purple dress that molded to the shape of her body and enhanced her curves. The dress was sparkling with silver as ornate patterns danced on the fabric. Her hair was pulled back into a bun that was straining to let it out. The dangling, silver earrings and the gorgeous diamond necklace she had on only added to the spectacle.

Kate seemed to be admiring him just as much as he was admiring her. She walked down the stairs and stopped a couple steps above him. He took her hand in his and pressed a delicate kiss to her knuckles.

Understanding her confused look, Rick explained, "I saw that in a nickelodeon once and I always wanted to do it."

They both chuckled while Kate realized that he was actually wearing a tuxedo. "Well, you certainly clean up nice, Mr. Castle. You look very handsome."

"As do you, Ms. Beckett." His eyes widened and he tried to correct himself. "I mean, beautiful. You look absolutely beautiful, Kate."

A shy smile appeared on her lips as she thanked him.

"You're welcome," Rick replied, his eyes never leaving hers. They stood there for a moment longer until they realized that he had yet to let go of her hand. Dropping her hand quickly, Rick cleared his throat in embarrassment while Kate looked away. When she glanced back at him, he had his arm extended and said with great flourish, "Shall we, milady?"

Shaking her head and laughing quietly, she grasped his arm and then, with the same great flourish, said, "Why, yes. We shall."

They had only gone a few feet when Kate stopped and tapped a man on his shoulder. "Darling?" The man turned around. Josh. "You remember Mr. Castle, right? From the other night?"

Josh surveyed him from head to toe and exclaimed, "Well, now, isn't that amazing. I hardly recognize you. You could almost pass for a gentleman."

"Almost," Rick replied. As Josh offered his arm to Johanna and led her away, Rick leaned over to whisper into Kate's ear, "Looks like I'm not the only one who could _almost_ pass for a gentleman."

His breath on her ear made shivers run down her spine and her breath caught in her throat. She lightly swatted at his chest and told him, "Be nice."

She tugged on his arm and they began walking down another flight of stairs to the dining hall. Reaching the last step, Kate began pointing out people of importance or significance. She nodded to one woman and said, "There's the Countess of Rothes." Looking to the right and spotting a man and woman descending the stairs she continued, "And that's John Jacob Astor. He's the richest man on the ship. His little wifey there, Madeleine, is my age and in delicate condition." She turned back to look pointedly at the other woman. "See how she's trying to hide it?"

Kate pointed out a couple more notable figures before she reached a certain couple. "And over here," she said, "we have Sir Cosmo and Lucille Lady Duff-Gordon. She designs naughty lingerie, among her many talents."

A smirk appeared on Rick's face and he leaned down slightly. "Any that you've bought?" he whispered smoothly in her ear.

Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink at his question. Seeing his teasing grin out of the corner of her eye, she decided to do some teasing of her own. "Even if I have, I'm not sure you wanna know about it. I don't think you can handle the mental image of me in nothing but sheer lace that leaves _very little_ to the imagination."

The smile fell right off of Rick's face and Kate gave herself a mental pat on the back in triumph. As she waved politely to Lucille, she heard Rick mutter, "That's _so_ not fair."

Just as she was about to respond to his comment, Martha Rodgers appeared at Rick's free side and asked, "Care to escort a lady to dinner?"

Rick beamed at her, held out his left arm, and said, "Why, certainly." The threesome began walking and followed closely behind Josh and Johanna to their dinner table.

"Ain't nothin' to it, is there Richard?" Martha commented. When he shook his head, she went on, "Just remember, they love money, so just pretend like you own a gold mine and you're in the club."

Sending her a grateful look, Rick said, "Thank you for all your help tonight, Mrs. Rodgers. I really appreciate it."

Martha swatted her hand at him. "Please, call me Martha. And you're welcome, dear. Don't think you're out of the trouble zone yet, though. You've still got the whole night ahead of you and you've only just entered the snake pit."

He was about to say something, but Martha excused herself to join the conversation between a few other people they were walking by. "I'll catch up with you two in a couple minutes," she told them.

The two continued on, with Rick nodding politely and formally at everyone who looked his way-which was a lot of people. Finally, they reached their table and Rick said, "Thank God. I was afraid that if I nodded my head one more time, it would fall right off!"

Kate stifled a laugh and told him, "Your seat is right there across from mine."

"You mean, I don't get to even sit next to you?"

"Sorry, Rick, but there's a sort of seating chart for people at these tables," she explained.

"But Kate," he whined, "I wanna sit next to you."

"What are you, four?" she asked incredulously.

He pouted and gave her his most irresistible puppy dog eyes. "Pleeeaassee," he begged.

Kate shook her head, pointed a finger at his seat, and ordered, "Go. Sit." Sighing heavily, he reluctantly agreed. When he flopped into his chair, she added, "Stay."

"You know, I'm not a dog, Ms. Beckett," he admonished.

"Well, with the look you had on your face a few seconds ago, you could've fooled me," she replied as she settled into her own chair. "And try to be a little more…sophisticated than how you were just acting."

Remembering that he was supposed to be a rich, eloquent, and well-brought up millionaire, Rick quickly straightened up in his seat and apologized to Kate. "Sorry. I completely forgot that we're surrounded by other people. Sometimes it feels like it's just you and me and the rest of the world kind of disappears."

Kate blushed and looked away. Of course she felt the same way, but would never admit as much to him. Feeling his eyes burn holes into her, she turned her head to face him again, but before she could say anything, she heard and saw her mother and Josh take their seats beside her.

Breaking off their gaze, Kate greeted the two along with the several others who were to sit at their table for the night.

Martha had sat down next to Rick so he turned his attention toward her, needing to distract himself from the beautiful woman whom he was to sit across from. The two struck up conversation immediately and the man barely even noticed when servants came out to begin serving the food.

He and Martha were brought out of their discussion when he heard Johanna Beckett address him. "So tell us, Mr. Castle. What are the accommodations in steerage like? I hear they're quite good on this ship."

Understanding that she was trying to take him down a notch and make sure he remembered his place as a third class passenger, Rick smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "The best I've seen, ma'am. Hardly any rats," he replied.

Several people at the table laughed at his joke while Johanna and Josh shifted uncomfortably with unamused expressions on their faces. He glanced at Kate and saw here sipping her champagne in order to mask the grin that was threatening to spread across her features.

"Mr. Castle is joining us from third class. He was of some assistance to my fiancée last night," Josh explained to everybody.

Feeling the need to boast about his talent, Kate informed the group, "It turns out that Mr. Castle is quite a fine artist. He was kind enough to show me some of his work today and it was extraordinary."

"Kate and I differ somewhat on our definition of fine art," Josh commented. "Not to impugn your work, sir," he directed toward the other man even though Rick could tell he didn't mean it.

Not wanting to pick a fight over something as petty as a simple insult, Rick shrugged his shoulders and dropped the subject. He saw Kate unfold her napkin and clear her throat obnoxiously loud in a way that said 'copy me exactly right now.' He hurriedly unfolded his own napkin and put on his lap just like he'd seen Kate do. Looking down at his currently empty plate, he stared confusedly at it. There was an excessive amount of silverware set neatly in a row on both sides of the plate and he had no idea what to do with them. Leaning over to Martha, he whispered, "Is all this for _me?_"

"Just start from the outside and work your way in," she advised.

He nodded his thanks to her and listened to the conversations people were having at the table. A waiter approached him only a moment later and asked, "How would you like your caviar, sir?"

Reigning in the sound of disgust that was almost emitted from his throat, he said, "No caviar for me, thanks. Never did like it much."

From across the table, he could see Kate smile slightly and look down at her plate.

"And where do you live, Mr. Castle?" Johanna asked.

"Well, right now, my address is the R.M.S _Titanic_," he said. "After that, I'm on God's good humor."

"And how is it you have means to travel?" she inquired.

Giving her a tight-lipped smile, Rick responded with, "Well, I work my way from place to place. You know, sell some drawings here, make a little money there. But I actually won my ticket on _Titanic_ here at a lucky hand of poker. A _very _lucky hand," he emphasized as his eyes flicked to Kate who then bit her lower lip.

He had everyone at the table charmed by his witty responses and appeal. Well, everyone except for one person still.

"And you find that sort of rootless existence appealing, do you?" Johanna asked, the disdain evident and clear in her tone.

Rick recoiled from the amount of malice he heard coming from her. Martha glared at the other woman while he recovered. Finally, he said, "Well, yes, ma'am, I do. I've got everything I need right here with me. Got air in my lungs and a few blank sheets of paper."

Kate, who had been picking a her food with her fork, stared at Rick while he spoke. In fact, all of the others there were paying close attention to him.

"I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen or who I'm gonna meet." He cast a glance at Kate. "Where I'm gonna wind up. Just the other night, I was sleeping under a bridge, and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world, having champagne with you fine people." He offered his glass to a waiter for a refill while the others chuckled. He took a sip of the champagne and continued his unintentional speech. "I figure life's a girl and I don't intend on wasting it. You never know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you. To make each day count," he finished.

Martha nodded in approval. "Well said, Richard."

"Hear, hear!" exclaimed another man at the table.

Kate, though, was in awe of the man before her. His words had captured her soul and she didn't think that she would ever be able to forget them. She raised her glass in the air and declared, "To making it count."

"To making it count!" everyone else toasted.

Kate sipped her champagne and locked eyes with Rick briefly. She saw a strange amount of emotion running through his eyes and she couldn't put a finger on what exactly it was.

Dinner came and went and soon after they were all still at the table regaling each other with tales of strange or funny events that had happened to them. Martha was currently in the middle of telling the story of how her husband had burned some of their money, quite literally.

"Now, Mr. Rodgers had no idea that I'd hidden the money in the stove," she said. "So he comes home drink as a pig celebrating and he lights a fire!" Everyone was practically in hysterics. Martha sure had some hilarious stories to tell.

Rick was still chuckling quietly to himself when he heard Kate whispering to him. "Next, it'll be brandies in the smoking room," she said.

Right on cue, one of the men at the table stood and said, "Well, care to join me in a brandy, gentlemen?"

Rick heard Kate lightly snort. "Now they retreat into a cloud of smoke and congratulate each other on being masters of the universe," she said sarcastically. Rick was barely able to contain his laughter.

Another man, Mr. Fallon if Rick recalled correctly, stood up as well and thanked to women for their company. _It's like they think women are just toys to play with and should be grateful that the men even grace them with their presence, _Rick thought as he frowned.

Suddenly getting an idea, Rick asked Martha if she had a pen on her which, thankfully, she did. He quickly scribbled down a few words onto a scrap of paper before handing back the pen.

The man who had first stood up asked, "Joining us, Mr. Castle? You don't want to stay out here with the women, do you?"

"No, thanks. I've gotta be heading back," Rick responded. The man nodded at him, held up a hand in a wave goodbye, and then turned back towards his friends.

Josh walked over to the other side of the table where Rick was standing and said arrogantly, "Probably best. It'll be all business and politics, that sort of thing. Wouldn't interest you." He slapped Rick's arm and continued on by him. "But, it was still good of you to come." And with that Josh and his loyal dog, Demming, followed the other men to the smoking room.

Rick rolled his eyes at the jackass before turning back to bid Kate a goodbye. He stood in front of her, looking down at her as she asked, "Must you go, Rick?"

He sighed and said, "It's time for me to row with the other slaves." She laughed lightly although he could tell that it was a little forced. He searched her eyes and saw that she was practically pleading for him to not leave. Well, if she listened to him, they would see each other very soon.

"Good night, Kate," he whispered to her. He took her hand in his and kissed it lightly, letting his lips linger for a moment longer than was necessary. Retracting his hand, he then left her alone with her mother and a couple other ladies who had been there that night.

Watching him retreat with sorrow, Kate realized that she was holding something in her hand. It seems that Rick had given her a note so she made sure no one was looking so that she could open it and read it. In doing so, she discovered that he had written, _"Make it count. Meet me at the clock."_

Knowing that there was no way she was going to miss another opportunity to see him again, Kate waited a few minutes before excusing herself from the table, saying that she was tired and was heading to bed. She made her way out of the dining room and, giddy with excitement, began walking faster toward the grand staircase.

When she reached it, she slowed her pace and searched for Rick until she saw him standing right before the clock, staring at it in anxiousness. Just as the clock chimed 8 o'clock, Kate ascended the small flight of stairs that separated the her from Rick.

Hearing her heels click on the wooden steps, he spun around, excitement and joy written all over his face. A smile was also present as he asked, "So you wanna go to a real party?"

The wide grin that appeared on her face was her answer.

**A/N: I really wanted to keep Jack's speech untouched because I thought it was perfect, so I didn't mess with a lot of the dialogue and that's why there's less originality here . I also just wanted to get this chapter out to you guys as I've made you all wait far too long and once again, I'm really sorry about that. Please review and tell me what you thought about this. The more you guys review and follow this story, the more you guilt me into getting off my lazy ass and writing more chapters.**


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